Page 53 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

was on the only east-west oriented coast in the region and thus independent of the monsoon. In the early s, Galle was unable to play a logistical role in the shipping network, as the fort city was completely isolated from the surrounding area. Even basic supplies such as rice had to be brought in by passing VOC ships. In this period, however, Galle was used as a transit port for some goods; for instance, Persian horses, which were not able to make the long voyage to Batavia in a single trip, would have a rest and recreation stop there while their ship sailed on. By the end of the s, Galle had gradually built up its logistical role in the shipping system. Batavia could be reached from Galle or South India along the west coast of Sumatra, through the Sunda Strait in generally little more than a month. During some months of the year, vessels in poor condition chose the longer but more sheltered route through the Strait of Malacca. There was one other Asian area frequented by VOC ships that had to be reached through Sun- da Strait, the pepper ports on the west coast of Sumatra. Commerce had a totally different character here from that described above. Trade was simple, only involving two products, cloth for pepper, but was dependent on the good will of the Sultan of Atjeh who dominated the whole region. Portuguese or other Asian adversaries were hardly present, so the ships did not need heavy armaments. Ships of intermediate size and good cargo-carrying capacity were needed to gather the pepper from the different ports along the coast and take it back to Batavia. Some VOC ships, often flutes, were almost continuously engaged in this trade. The north-western route, Branch B Sailing in a northerly direction through the Strait of Malacca was not entirely limited by the monsoon. It was always possible to pass through the Strait but during the adverse monsoon period (going north this was from around February to September), the voyage could take a long time and Branch A was preferred. Ships with a destination in the Bay of Bengal had to observe certain aspects of the wind and current patterns after leaving the Strait of Malacca in order not to end up on the wrong side of Ceylon and miss the entrance to the Bay of Bengal. It was possible to arrive at, or leave from the ports in the Bay of Bengal almost during the whole year, but direct sailing from one port to another was only safe at certain times and in certain directions. Normally Pipelij, the northern-most VOC base in the Gulf, had to be reached before December to take advantage of the favourable wind conditions. The situation with regard to trade was somewhat different here compared to the other side of the Indian subcontinent. On the west side, there were two important trade ports for the VOC, Surat for northern India and Gamron for Persia, where goods were brought overland from afar. On the eastern coast there were a large number of ports each with their own trading products. Each location would have locally specific patterns printed on. Besides the larger ships trans- porting substantial quantities of cloth and saltpetre to Batavia, smaller ships were also needed to collect these goods. The sequence of obtaining and transporting gold, silver, other metals and ores and some spices with which to buy these commodities was very important. For the most eastern ports in the Bay of Bengal, called Arracan and Pegu by the VOC (modern Myan- mar), it was difficult to apply the system because the period when ships could go there in combination with other destinations was very limited. Consequently slaves and rice, which the VOC bought there, were often taken directly to Batavia. VOC ships visited all the other ports during voyages up and down the coast, from the mouth of the Ganges in the north to Ceylon in the south, even though they had to be careful near places under Portuguese influence. Trade depended on a large number of local coastal rulers with these frequently being governors representing greater kings living further inland. Most of the ports had local traders and shipping operating concurrently with the VOC. The danger of interference from large, armed Portuguese ships was much less on this coast than on the wes- tern side of the subcontinent. A number of VOC ships sailed from Bengal to transport sugar and tropical products to Per- sia. Because of the VOC’s positive trade balance there (after a problematic start), the ships re- turning after  to the Coromandel Coast and Bengal often carried gold and silver coins. Although these ships did not always sail into the bay of Galle, they nearly always tried to  Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters